Rights groups found last year that more and more Afghan women are being attacked, despite harsher laws and officials’ pledges to prosecute the perpetrators.

Activist Humaira Rasouli said the marchers wanted violence against women “to be eliminated or at least reduced in Afghanistan,” but unfortunately it “is increasing day to day.”

Riot police stood guard as women and men walked from the Darul Aman Palace outside Kabul to an area near parliament.

Today’s march was peaceful, unlikely previous protests that had been marred by stone-throwing and insults.

It was part of the global One Billion Rising campaign that demands an end to violence against women and uses Valentine’s Day to highlight abuse.

Similar demonstrations were held around the world.

Flashmobs, marches, singing and dances were planned in about 200 countries and, significantly, many occurred in countries where women’s rights are severely held back by religious or social manacles.

In Bangladesh, acid attack survivors rallied across the country.

Monira Rahman of the Acid Survivors’ Foundation said: “It is important to mobilise society in this way to break the silence surrounding violence against women and show that people from all backgrounds have zero tolerance for it.

“In Bangladesh there is currently a big movement against war criminals and we are linking these huge demonstrations to One Billion Rising, because these men severely violated women and encouraged others to rape during the war.”